Southwest Area resources staged for community protection if needed

EXTREME FIRE DANGER throughout Southwest Alaska!
THE STATE FIRE MARSHALL AND DIVISION OF FORESTRY HAVE ISSUED A

BURN BAN ON ALL State, Municipal and Private Lands OF WESTERN ALASKA

CURRENT SOUTHWEST WILDFIRE ACTIONS PLAN

Suppression or protection action will be taken only on fires that are an immediate threat to life. Action will therefore be limited to protecting communities and occupied sites that are in imminent fire threat. Other fires will be monitored to the extent possible.

Situation:

Several days of lightning strikes on tinder-dry forest and tundra have started many new fires. In Southwest Alaska, there were 20 new fires yesterday and currently there are over 70 active wildfires. Across Alaska, there were 11,200 lightning strikes yesterday. Thunderstorms are predicted for the next two days. New fire starts spread quickly. Because fires are burning in critical places across the state, fire control resources of all kinds are in short supply

.

Crew Staging:

The fire crews in Southwest are being staged at places where runways make it possible to quickly move them by fixed-wing aircraft to where they are needed. Four crews are in Southwest: Helena T2 IA, Lower Kalskag, Nikolai and Salt Lake County 1 T2 IA. The staging is being organized to serve several clusters of communities

– where fire currently threatens.

Stony River (Lime Village)

Fire 348-Why Lake

– Large fire 12 miles downriver from Lime Village.

Fire 452

– Kutokbuna Lake

– Across the river from Fire 348 and on the same side as Lime Village.